Mastercard is Set to Develop a Future Crypto Wallet, IBM Launches New Blockchain Platform for Supplier Data Management

This week (5-10 August) in Blockchain & Crypto was yet another interesting one - Mastercard hints at future crypto wallet product with new job listings, IBM launches new Blockchain platform for supplier data management and more!

About this and more, in the newest issue of Weekly Blockchain & Crypto Digest. Enjoy!

Mastercard Hints at Future Crypto Wallet Product With New Job Listings

Mastercard appears to be inclining to enter the crypto wallet space with new job ads for blockchain and cryptocurrency-related product development.

According to updated job listings from the payments giant as of Aug. 2, the company is seeking to hire for the following roles: 

Director, Product Management - Crypto Currency/ Wallets, Director, Product Development & Innovation - Blockchain Solutions Architect, and VP, Product Management - Blockchain/Crypto.

Two of the new roles — the future director of product management for cryptocurrency/wallets and future VP of product management for blockchain/crypto — will lead a team focused on developing blockchain-based solutions that include wallets, the job listings reveal.

While neither ad discloses full details of the planned products’ scope, they do indicate that the new hires will be asked to identify solutions and concepts “that have strategic fit and value to Mastercard’s customers and partners.”

Mastercard, notably, is reported to be one of the partners in the Libra Association — a consortium established to govern Facebook’s planned stablecoin project, Libra.  

This leaves open the question of whether or not Mastercard plans to embark on a roadmap as a crypto wallet solutions provider to partner projects such as Libra, or potential other entrants into the crypto space.

??All You Need to Know About Facebook's Upcoming Cryptocurrency??

IBM Launches New Blockchain Platform for Supplier Data Management

Tech giant IBM and blockchain company Chainyard have jointly developed a new blockchain network for supply chain management. IBM announced the platform in a press release on August 5.

Alongside IBM, the Trust Your Supplier network’s founding members are also American brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev, tech companies Cisco, Lenovo, Nokia, Schneider Electric, British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline and telecoms company Vodafone. The product is built on the IBM Blockchain Platform and aims to eliminate manual time-consuming processes and help reduce the risk of fraud and errors.

Per the release, Trust Your Supplier creates a digital passport for supplier identity on the blockchain network that enables suppliers to share information with selected buyers on the network. By deploying the platform, users purportedly can reduce the time and cost associated with qualifying, validating and managing new suppliers. Renee Ure, Chief Supply Chain Officer for Lenovo’s data center group, said:

Blockchain has the ability to completely transform how companies onboard and manage their supplier network for the future. Through Trust Your Supplier, both buyers and suppliers will see the procurement benefits of blockchain through reductions in cost, complexity and speed.

The Trust Your Supplier network joins an array of other blockchain-based projects from IBM. In mid-July, the company tripled the number of blockchain patents secured in the United States since 2018, boasting over 100 active patent families. 

UK Bank Standard Chartered Uses Blockchain for Supply Chain Finance

London-based bank and financial services firm Standard Chartered has completed its first joint blockchain-based supply chain financing transaction.

Standard Chartered announced on Aug. 5 that the institution successfully ran their first joint deep-tier supply chain financing transaction in partnership with China-based supply chain financing service provider Linklogis.

The news follows a memorandum of understanding signed by Standard Chartered and Linklogis in February 2019, when the firms agreed to collaborate on expanding the bank’s supply chain visibility, as well as to support sustainable growth of China’s economy and innovation.

Specifically, the new transaction reportedly involved Linklogis’ platform dubbed WeQChain, which is based on blockchain technology from Chinese internet giant Tencent. By applying the platform, the parties aimed to boost transparency and optimize costs of access to credit for upstream suppliers within the China-based project known as Digital Guangdong.

Digital Guangdong is a joint venture between Tencent, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile, which developed over 700 digital governmental services and applications and processed over 200 million transactions for the residents of Guangdong province.

According to Xie Wen, the head of commercial banking in China at Standard Chartered, cooperation with Linklogis and adopting blockchain technology will allow their clients to remain competitive.

Insurance Giant Allianz Is Working on a Token-Based Blockchain Ecosystem

German financial services giant Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) is developing a blockchain-based ecosystem to facilitate cross-border insurance payments for its corporate customers.

Allianz is working on a token-based blockchain system, expecting it to streamline international insurance payments for its corporate customers, Forbes reported on 8 August. An Allianz spokesperson told Forbes that the company is still in the experimentation phase, although the basic core infrastructure of the ecosystem has already been built and tested.

The spokesperson further explained that Allianz will next examine money transfers with a limited scope and for a short period of time in order to prove hypothesis. The spokesperson said:

AGCS is further exploring blockchain technology to simplify and accelerate cross-border insurance payments for its corporate customers. A project team is in the advanced stages of development for a token-based electronic payment system to allow for frictionless, transparent and instantaneous money transfers for a range of different types [of] payments.

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P.S. You might enjoy my earlier pieces as well:

?? A Quick Guide to Stablecoins

?? Following Dirty Money

?? The Biggest Deals in FinTech History are Taking Place NOW

?? Bitcoin is NOT a Currency, and Never Will Be

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About: I am a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading company's expansion into Europe , I'm an active member of FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

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